軟銀出售價值58億美元的英偉達股份，用於支付OpenAI相關交易

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

SoftBank Sells $5.8 Billion Stake in Nvidia to Pay for OpenAI Deals

The move has further stoked concerns among some investors that the rally in artificial intelligence stocks was overdone.

The NYT - By Michael J. de la Merced

Nov. 11, 2025

SoftBank, the Japanese technology giant, has staked its future on artificial intelligence.

But to help pay for those expensive investments, the company last month sold its entire $5.8 billion holdings in Nvidia, the chipmaker behind the A.I. boom, SoftBank said in its quarterly earnings report on Tuesday.

SoftBank’s enormous spending plans, including some $30 billion alone on OpenAI, come amid a flood of planned investments in artificial intelligence across the technology industry — including circular deals among the same companies. (Nvidia, for example, is committed to investing up to $100 billion in OpenAI, which in turn plans to buy an enormous slug of the chipmaker’s processors.)

News that SoftBank, an influential technology investor, was getting out of one of the biggest names in artificial intelligence stoked concern among some investors that the rally in A.I. stocks was overdone. A new skeptic of the boom appeared on Monday: Michael Burry, the hedge fund manager made famous by the book and the movie “The Big Short,” questioned on social media the accounting for tech giants’ huge purchases of computer chips.

But SoftBank’s reason for the sale was purely pragmatic, according to its chief financial officer, Yoshimitsu Goto. “We do need to divest our existing portfolio so that, that can be utilized for our financing,” he told analysts. “It’s nothing to do with Nvidia itself.”

Late last month, OpenAI completed a corporate reorganization to become a for-profit company. As part of that move, SoftBank agreed to make its full $30 billion investment in the ChatGPT maker.

The move underscored the steep financial requirements of SoftBank’s continuing focus on artificial intelligence. “I want SoftBank to lead the A.I. revolution,” Masayoshi Son, the company’s founder and chief executive, said in 2023.

That has meant making big pledges, including the OpenAI investment, and joining a venture called Stargate, with OpenAI and Oracle, that intends to build an array of data centers.

More broadly, SoftBank has announced that it plans to invest $100 billion in projects in the United States.

Doing so has forced the company to find the money for its pledges, including by selling off existing investments and borrowing heavily.

In some cases, however, those investments have paid off already. Despite the price tag of the OpenAI commitment, the start-up’s soaring valuation — on paper, at least — helped SoftBank more than double its profit in the most recent quarter, to 2.5 trillion yen, or $16.2 billion.

But SoftBank’s sale of its Nvidia stake resurrected memories of its last investment in the chipmaker, which it sold off in 2019. That was a few years before its stock began to climb on the back of demand for A.I. services like ChatGPT.

Translation

軟銀出售價值58億美元的英偉達股份，用於支付OpenAI相關交易

此舉進一步加劇了部分投資人對人工智能股票漲勢過猛的擔憂。

日本科技巨頭軟銀已將未來押注於人工智能領域。

軟銀在周二發布的季度財報中表示, 為了支付這些高昂的投資，軟銀上個月出售了其持有的全部共值58億美元的英偉達股份。英偉達是人工智能熱潮背後的晶片製造商。

軟銀的巨額支出計劃，光是對OpenAI一項就高達300億美元，正值整個科技業紛紛計劃投資人工智能之際 - 包括同一公司之間的循環交易。 （例如，英偉達承諾向OpenAI投資高達1000億美元，而OpenAI則計劃購買這家晶片製造商的大量處理器。）

軟銀這個具有影響力的科技投資者，正要離開人工智能領域中最具名氣的公司之一的消息，引發了一些投資者的擔憂，他們認為人工智能股票的漲勢可能過熱了。週一又出現了一位對這波熱潮持懷疑態度的人：因《The Big Short》一書和電影而聲名鵲起的對沖基金經理Michael Burry在社交媒體上質疑科技巨頭大規模購買電腦晶片的會計處理。

但據軟銀財務長Yoshimitsu Goto稱，軟銀出售英偉達的理由純粹出於務實考量。他告訴分析師們稱: “我們確實需要剝離現有投資組合，以便將它用於融資”; “這與英偉達本身無關。”

上月底，OpenAI完成了公司重組，成為一家營利性公司。作為該舉措的一部分，軟銀同意向ChatGPT開發商OpenAI全額投資300億美元。

此舉凸顯了軟銀持續專注於人工智能領域所需的巨額資金。公司創辦人兼執行長孫正義在2023年表示: 「我希望軟銀帶領人工智能革命」。

這意味著要做出巨額投資承諾，包括對OpenAI的投資，以及與OpenAI和甲骨文共同成立名為Stargate的合資企業，該合資企業旨在建立一系列數據中心。

更廣泛地說，軟銀已宣布計劃在美國投資1,000億美元用於相關項目。

這樣做迫使該公司必須籌集資金來履行其投資承諾，包括出售現有投資和大量舉債。

然而，在某些情況下，那些投資已經獲得了回報。儘管投資 OpenAI 的代價不菲，但這家新創公司飆升的估值 - 至少帳面上如此 - 幫助軟銀在最近一個季度實現了超過一倍的利潤，達到 2.5 兆日元，約合 162 億美元。

然而，軟銀出售其持有的英偉達股份，卻讓人回想起它上次投資這家晶片製造商的經歷。軟銀上次出售英偉達股票是在 2019 年，那是距離英偉達股價開始因為 ChatGPT 等人工智能服務的需求而攀升還有幾年。

So, SoftBank has staked its future on artificial intelligence. I am wondering how long will this AI boom last as all major AI companies are rushing to build data centers.

China's October Consumer Price Index Rose for the First Time in Four Months, Deflation Concerns Continued

Recently NHK News On-line reported the following:

中国 10月の消費者物価指数 4か月ぶり上昇 デフレ懸念は続く

2025年11月9日午後0時28分

中国

中国の10月の消費者物価指数は、2024年の同じ月と比べて0.2％のプラスとなり、4か月ぶりに上昇しました。ただ、消費者の節約志向を背景に自動車などが値下がりしていて、デフレへの懸念は続いています。

中国の国家統計局が9日に発表した10月の消費者物価指数は、2024年の同じ月と比べて0.2％のプラスとなりました。消費者物価指数がプラスとなるのは4か月ぶりです。

牛肉の価格が上昇したことなどが要因ですが、消費者の節約志向を背景に自動車などは値下がりしていて、デフレへの懸念が続いています。

あわせて発表された、企業が製品を出荷する際の値動きを示す10月の生産者物価指数は、2024年の同じ月と比べて2.1％の下落となりました。

不動産不況の長期化を背景に内需の停滞が続く中、中国共産党は10月、2026年以降の経済政策などの基本方針として内需拡大に力を入れることを強調していて、今後、物価の押し上げにつながる効果的な対策を打ち出すことができるかが焦点となります。

Translation

China's October Consumer Price Index Rose for the First Time in Four Months, Deflation Concerns Continued

China's October Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% compared to the same month in 2024, marking the first increase in four months. However, prices of automobiles and other commodities had fallen due to consumers' tendency to save money, and concerns about deflation continued.

China's National Bureau of Statistics announced on the 9th that the Consumer Price Index for October was up 0.2% compared to the same month in 2024. This was the first positive in the Consumer Price Index in four months.

While a rising beef prices etc. was a primary factor,  prices of automobiles and other commodities had fallen due to consumers' tendency to save money, concerns about deflation continued.

The Producer Price Index for October, which indicated price movements at the time of product shipment by companies, was also announced, showing a 2.1% decrease compared to the same month in 2024.

As domestic demand continued to stagnate due to the prolonged real estate recession, the Chinese Communist Party emphasized in October that it would focus on expanding domestic demand as a basic policy for economic policy from 2026 onwards. In the future,  the focus would be on whether effective measures to push up prices could come out.

So, China's October Consumer Price Index rose 0.2% compared to the same month in 2024. However, prices of automobiles and other commodities have fallen due to consumers' tendency to save money, and concerns about deflation continue. Let’s wait and see whether China’s new measures can control deflation.

Dr. Watson Passed Away: Nobel Prize Winner for Discovering the Double Helix Structure of DNA

Recently NHK News On-line reported the following:

米 ワトソン博士死去 DNA二重らせん構造発見でノーベル賞受賞

2025年11月8日午前11時46分

訃報

生命の設計図DNAが二重らせん構造であることを発見し、ノーベル生理学・医学賞を受賞したアメリカの生物学者ジェームズ・ワトソン博士が6日、亡くなりました。97歳でした。

ワトソン博士は1953年、イギリス・ケンブリッジ大学でフランシス・クリック博士とともに、DNAが、2本の鎖がらせん状に絡み合う二重らせん構造であることを発表しました。

1962年にはノーベル生理学・医学賞をクリック博士らと受賞し、その成果はDNAをもとにした医療や技術の発展にもつながりました。

ニューヨーク・タイムズによりますと、ワトソン博士は6日、ニューヨーク州ロングアイランドで亡くなったということです。97歳でした。

ワトソン博士が所長を務め、長年研究を行ったアメリカのコールド・スプリング・ハーバー研究所は「心よりお悔やみ申し上げます。ワトソン博士は科学界および研究コミュニティーに多大な貢献をしました」とコメントしています。

Translation

Dr. Watson Passed Away: Nobel Prize Winner for Discovering the Double Helix Structure of DNA

Dr. James Watson, the American biologist who discovered the double helix structure of DNA, the blueprint of life, and won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine passed away on the 6th. He was 97 years old.

In 1953, at the University of Cambridge in the UK, Dr. Watson along with Dr. Francis Crick announced that DNA had a double helix structure, with two strands intertwined in a spiral.

In 1962, he and Dr. Crick shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, and their work led to the development of DNA-based medical treatments and technologies.

According to the New York Times, Dr. Watson passed away on the 6th in Long Island, New York. He was 97 years old.

The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in the United States, where Dr. Watson served as director and conducted research for many years said in a statement, "We offer our deepest condolences. Dr. Watson made significant contributions to the scientific and research community."

              So, Dr. James Watson who discovered the double helix structure of DNA passed away at the age of 97 years old. Apparently, Dr. Watson by discovering the double-helix structure of the DNA molecule in 1953 has made significant contributions to the scientific and research community.

Note:

Dr. James Watson and Dr. Francis Crick are renowned for discovering the double-helix structure of the DNA molecule in 1953. Their groundbreaking work, which relied heavily on the experimental data of other scientists, particularly Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins, fundamentally changed the understanding of genetics and heredity. Working at the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge, Watson (an American biologist) and Crick (a British physicist) used molecular modeling and data from other researchers to build their model. They proposed that DNA is a twisted ladder, or double helix, with two strands running in opposite directions (antiparallel). The "rungs" of the ladder are made of specific pairs of nitrogenous bases: adenine (A) with thymine (T), and guanine (G) with cytosine (C). (Google AI search)

中國出口意外下滑，價格持續下跌

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

China’s Exports Unexpectedly Falter as Prices Keep Falling

Exports of cars, solar panels and batteries remain strong, but prices are falling because of factory overcapacity in China.

By Keith Bradsher

Nov. 7, 2025, 3:02 a.m. ET

After months of surging demand, China’s exports unexpectedly dipped in October, the first drop in eight months, partly from an ongoing slide in prices for many of China’s most popular exports like cars, solar panels and batteries.

The value of Chinese exports slipped 1.1 percent in October from a year earlier, China’s General Administration of Customs said on Friday. Western economists had expected China to announce another month of growth.

China’s exports have continued to boom this year, despite its trade war with the United States and rising tariffs in developing countries like Brazil, India, and Turkey, which also fear the effect on their factories’ employment from a deluge of low-cost goods made in China. Until October, shipments of Chinese goods to other regions of the world had more than offset the downturn in trade to the United States.

China is still on pace for a second straight year of record trade surpluses.

The physical volume of China’s exports has grown rapidly this year, lifted by a flood of Chinese cars, electronics, household appliances and other goods pouring into world markets. But the overall value of its exports is not keeping pace, as Chinese companies are offering significant discounts to overseas buyers to offload excess factory capacity.

China’s exports to the European Union, Latin America, Africa and Southeast Asia all weakened in October. The composition of China’s exports has been shifting toward products like cars and solar panels, which have experienced some of the largest price drops, and away from lower-technology products like furniture and apparel.

The number of exported cars rose nearly 25 percent in October from a year earlier, even as the value of those cars rose only 17 percent.

President Trump’s tariffs, by contrast, appear to have had a dwindling effect last month. Exports to the American market fell less in October than they had in either of the two previous months. There were also signs that Chinese companies are bypassing his tariffs by sending goods through other countries instead of directly to the United States.

“A rise in the share of Chinese exports going to Vietnam, the top rerouting hub, suggests that the tariff offset from rerouting continued to expand,” wrote Zichun Huang, China economist at Capital Economics, a consulting firm, in a research note. “So if anything, the drag from U.S. tariffs was moderating rather than increasing.”

China continued to export more than three times as much to the United States in October as it imported. That large trade surplus has helped Beijing maintain factory employment and strengthen the economy even as a long-running, slow-motion collapse of China’s housing market has badly hurt the finances of many Chinese households.

Consumers in China have been cautious about spending after losing a significant portion of their life savings in that downturn. With less demand at home, more of those goods are being redirected to overseas markets.

A slight strengthening of China’s currency, the renminbi, against the dollar in recent months may also have hurt the country’s competitiveness by making Chinese goods more expensive when sold in some overseas markets. But the renminbi has weakened by about 7 percent against the euro in the past year, which has helped Chinese exporters to the European Union.

Goldman Sachs pointed out in a research note that China’s exports also might have faltered because October had one fewer workday this year than last year.

Translation

中國出口意外下滑，價格持續下跌

汽車、太陽能板和電池的出口依然強勁，但由於中國工廠產能過剩，價格正在下跌。

在經歷了數月的強勁需求後，中國10月份的出口意外下滑，這是八個月來的首次下降，部分原因是汽車、太陽能板和電池等中國最暢銷出口產品的價格持續下跌。

中國海關總署週五表示，10月中國出口額年減1.1%。西方經濟學家此前預計中國將連續第二個月成長。

儘管中國與美國爆發貿易戰，及巴西、印度和土耳其等發展中國家也擔心大量中國製造的低價商品湧入本國工廠，會影響其就業不斷提高關稅, 今年以來中國的出口仍保持強勁成長。直到10月份，中國對世界其他地區的商品出口量足以彌補對美貿易下滑的影響。

中國仍有望連續第二年創下貿易順差紀錄。

今年，中國出口的實體量成長迅速，這主要得益於大量中國汽車、電子產品、家用電器和其他商品湧入世界市場。但由於中國企業為了清理過剩產能而向海外買家提供大幅折扣，其出口總貨価的成長速度並未跟上實體量的成長。

10月份，中國對歐盟、拉丁美洲、非洲和東南亞的出口均下降。中國出口產品的組成正在轉變，汽車和太陽能板等價格跌幅最大的產品佔比上升，而家具和服裝等低科技產品則有所減少。 

10月中國汽車出口量年增近25%，但出口価値僅成長17%。

相較之下，特朗普總統的關稅政策似乎在上個月有所減弱。 10月中國對美出口的降幅小於前兩個月中的任何一個月。此外，有跡象表明，中國企業正在透過其他國家而非直接向美國出口商品來規避關稅。

諮詢公司Capital Economics的中國經濟學家Zichun Huang在一份研究報告中寫道:「中國出口到越南作為最大的轉運樞紐的份額上升，表明轉運帶來的關稅抵消效應持續擴大」; 「所以如果有什麼的話，美國關稅帶來的拖累正在減弱，而不是加劇」。

10月份，中國對美出口額仍是進口額的三倍多。儘管中國房地產市場長期緩慢崩盤，嚴重損害了許多中國家庭的財務狀況，但巨額貿易順差仍幫助北京維持了工廠就業並增強了經濟實力。

中國消費者在經濟衰退中損失了大部分畢生積蓄後一直謹慎消費。由於國內需求下降，更多商品轉移到海外市場。

近幾個月來，人民幣對美元小幅走強，這也可能削弱了中國的競爭力，因為這使得中國商品在一些海外市場的售價更高。但過去一年，人民幣對歐元貶值了約7%，這有利於中國對歐盟的出口。

高盛在研究報告中指出，中國出口下滑的另一個原因可能是今年10月份的工作日比去年少一天。

So, after months of surging demand, China’s exports unexpectedly dropped in October, the first time in eight months. The physical volume of China’s exports has grown rapidly this year while the overall value of its exports is not keeping pace, as Chinese companies are offering significant discounts to overseas buyers to offload excess factory capacity. Apparently, a large trade surplus enables Beijing to continue supporting factory employments so as to maintain social stability.

U.S. Consumer Sentiment Index in November Hits Lowest Level Since June 2022

Recently NHK News On-line reported the following:

アメリカ 消費者心理示す11月の指数 2022年6月以来の低水準に

2025年11月8日午前7時39分

アメリカ

アメリカの消費者心理を示す11月の指数が、2022年6月以来の低い水準となりました。調査を行ったミシガン大学は、消費者が政府機関の閉鎖の長期化による悪影響を懸念し始めていると指摘しています。

アメリカのミシガン大学が7日に公表した調査結果によりますと、消費者心理を示す指数の11月の速報値は、前の月より3ポイント余り低下して、50.3でした。

これは、記録的な物価の上昇率となった3年5か月前の2022年6月以来の低い水準です。

アメリカでは、与野党の対立によって新たな予算が成立せず、政府機関の一部閉鎖が長期化していて、運輸省が全米の40の主要空港を発着する航空便を1割削減すると発表するなど影響が広がっています。

ミシガン大学は「連邦政府の閉鎖が1か月以上続くなか、消費者は経済への悪影響を懸念し始めている。年齢、所得、政治的な立場にかかわらず幅広い層で消費者心理の落ち込みがみられた」と指摘しています。

Translation

U.S. Consumer Sentiment Index in November Hits Lowest Level Since June 2022

The November index of U.S. consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level since June 2022. The University of Michigan which conducted the survey pointed out that consumers were beginning to worry about the negative impact of a prolonged government shutdown.

According to a survey released by the American’s University of Michigan on the 7th, the preliminary November reading of the consumer sentiment index fell by more than three points from the previous month to 50.3.

This was the lowest level since June 2022, three years and five months ago, when record inflation rates hit a record.

In the U.S., partisan conflict had prevented a new budget from being passed, prolonging the partial government shutdown. The impact was spreading, with the Department of Transportation announcing a 10% reduction in air traffic at 40 major airports across the country.

The University of Michigan noted, "With the federal government shutdown continuing for more than a month, consumers are becoming concerned about the negative impact on the economy. Weakened consumer sentiment was seen across a wide range of demographics, regardless of age, income, or political stance."

So, in the US consumers were becoming concerned about the negative impact on the economy. Weakened consumer sentiment was seen across a wide range of demographics, regardless of age, income, or political stance. I am wondering how will this affect Republicans and Democrats in the up coming elections in the US.

人工智能和社交媒體如何導致「腦殘廢」（2/2）

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

How A.I. and Social Media Contribute to ‘Brain Rot’ (2/2)

A.I. search tools, chatbots and social media are associated with lower cognitive performance, studies say. What to do?

By Brian X. Chen (Brian X. Chen is The Times’s lead consumer technology writer and the author of Tech Fix, a column about the social implications of the tech we use.)

Nov. 6, 2025

(continue)

Though the study focused on essay writing, Dr. Kosmyna said she worried about the implications for people using A.I. chatbots in fields where retention is essential, like a pilot studying to get a license. More research urgently needs to be done, she said, on how A.I. affects people’s ability to hold on to information.

Social media may be linked to lower reading scores.

Over the last two years, schools in states like New York, Indiana, Louisiana and Florida have raced to ban cellphones from classrooms, citing concerns that students were distracting themselves with social media apps like TikTok and Instagram. Lending credence to the bans, a study published last month found a potent link between social media use and poorer cognitive performance.

Last month, the medical journal JAMA published a study conducted by the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Jason Nagata, a pediatrician who led the study, and his colleagues looked at data from ABCD, for Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development, a research project that followed more than 6,500 youths from age 9 to 13 from 2016 to 2018.

All the children were surveyed once a year on how much time they used social media. Every other year, they took several tests. For example, a visual vocabulary test involved correctly matching pictures to words they heard.

The data showed that children who reported using a low amount of social media (one hour a day) to a high amount (at least three hours a day) scored significantly lower on reading, memory and vocabulary tests than children who reported using no social media.

As for why social media apps like TikTok and Instagram would harm test scores, the only safe conclusion is that every hour a child spends scrolling through the apps takes time away from more enriching activities like reading and sleeping, Dr. Nagata said.

What are some healthier ways to use social media and A.I.?

Despite findings of a correlation between social media use and cognitive decline, it would be difficult to recommend an ideal amount of screen time for youths, because lots of children spend time in front of screens doing things unrelated to social media, like watching TV shows, Dr. Nagata said.

Instead, he suggested that parents enforce screen-free zones, prohibiting phone use in areas like the bedroom and dinner table so that children can stay focused on their studies, sleep and mealtimes.

Meta did not respond to a request for comment. A TikTok spokeswoman referred to a webpage with instructions to set up Time Away, a tool for parents to create schedules for when their teenagers are allowed to use TikTok.

As for A.I. chatbots, there was an interesting wrinkle in the M.I.T. study that presented a possible solution on how people could best use chatbots to learn and write.

Eventually, the groups in that study swapped roles: The people who relied only on their brains to write got to use ChatGPT, and the people who had relied on ChatGPT could use only their brains. All the students wrote essays on the same topics they had chosen before.

The students who had originally relied only on their brains recorded the highest brain activity once they were allowed to use ChatGPT. The students who had initially used ChatGPT, on the other hand, were never on a par with the former group when they were restricted to using their brains, Dr. Kosmyna said.

That suggests that people who are eager to use chatbots for writing and learning should consider starting the process on their own before turning to the A.I. tools later in the process for revisions, similar to math students using calculators to solve problems only after they have used pencil and paper to learn the formulas and equations. Both Google and OpenAI declined to comment.

Dr. Melumad, the Wharton professor who led the earlier study involving A.I. search tools, said the problem with those tools was that they transformed what was once an active process in your brain — perusing through links and clicking on a credible source to read — into a passive one by automating all of that.

So perhaps the key to using A.I. in a healthier way, she said, is to try to be more mindful in how we use them. Rather than ask a chatbot to do all the research on a broad topic, Dr. Melumad said, use it as a part of your research process to answer small questions, such as looking up historical dates. But for deeper learning of a subject, consider reading a book.

Translation

人工智能和社交媒體如何導致「腦殘廢」（2/2）

研究表明，人工智能搜尋工具、聊天機器人和社交媒體與認知能力下降有關。我們該怎麼辦？

（繼續）

儘管這項研究的重點是論文寫作，但Kosmyna士表示，她擔心人工智能聊天機器人對那些在記憶力至關重要的領域（例如飛行員考取執照）使用人工智能聊天機器人的人們會產生影響。她說，迫切需要進行更多關於人工智能如何影響人們保有資訊能力的研究。

社交媒體可能與閱讀成績下降有關。

過去兩年，紐約州、印第安納州、路易斯安那州和佛羅裡達州等地的學校紛紛禁止學生在課堂上使用手機，理由是擔心學生會沉迷於TikTok和Instagram等社交媒體應用而分心。一項上個月發表的研究也印證了這些禁令的合理性，該研究發現社交媒體的使用與認知能力下降之間存在密切關係。

上個月，醫學期刊《美國醫學會雜誌》（JAMA）發表了一項由加州大學舊金山分校進行的研究。該研究的負責人、兒科醫生Jason Nagata博士及其同事分析了「青少年大腦認知發展」（ABCD）計劃的數據。此計劃追蹤了2016年至2018年間6,500多名9至13歲的青少年。

所有兒童每年都會接受一次關於他們使用社交媒體的時間有多少的調查。每隔一年，他們還會參加幾項測驗。例如，一項視覺詞彙測試要求他們將圖片與聽到的單字正確匹配。

數據顯示，使用社交媒體時間較短（每天一小時）到較長（每天至少三小時）的兒童，在閱讀、記憶和詞彙測驗中的得分均顯著低於不使用社交媒體的兒童。

至於TikTok和Instagram等社交媒體應用程式為何會影響測驗成績，Nagata博士表示，唯一合理的解釋是，孩子每花一個小時瀏覽這些應用，就會減少他們進行閱讀和睡眠等更有益活動的時間。

有哪些方式會更健康地使用社交媒體和人工智能呢？

Nagata博士指出，儘管有研究發現社交媒體使用與認知能力下降之間存在關係，但很難為青少年推薦理想的螢幕使用時間，因為許多孩子在螢幕前做的事情與社交媒體無關，例如看電視節目。

他建議家長設立“不用螢幕區域”，禁止在臥室和餐桌等區域使用手機，以便孩子可以專注於學習、睡眠和用餐。

Meta公司未對此置評。 TikTok 的一位發言人提到了一個網頁，上面有設定 Time Away 的說明。 Time Away 是讓家長為青少年設定可使用TikTok的時間表的工具。

至於人工智能聊天機器人，麻省理工學院的一項研究提出了一個有趣的發現，該研究探討如何更好地利用聊天機器人來學習和寫作。

最終，研究中的兩組學生互換了角色：原本只依靠大腦寫作的學生可以使用 ChatGPT，而之前依賴 ChatGPT 的學生則只能依靠大腦寫作。所有學生都就先前選擇了的相同主題撰寫了文章。

Kosmyna博士表示，最初只依靠大腦寫作的學生在被允許使用 ChatGPT 後，大腦活動量最高。而最初使用 ChatGPT 的學生，在被限制只能依靠大腦寫作後，大腦活動量始終無法與先前那組學生相提並論。

這表明，那些渴望使用聊天機器人進行寫作和學習的人，應該先嘗試獨立完成寫作和學習過程，然後再藉助人工智能工具進行修改，就像數學學生只有在用紙筆學習公式和方程式之後，才會使用計算器解題一樣。谷歌和OpenAI均拒絕置評。

華頓商學院教授Melumad博士曾領導一項關於人工智能搜尋工具的早期研究曾指出，這些工具的問題在於，它們將原本大腦中主動思考的過程 - 瀏覽連結、點擊可靠的來源進行閱讀 - 全自動化了成為一個被動的過程。

因此，她認為，更健康地使用人工智能的關鍵或許在於，我們應該更謹慎地使用它們。Melumad博士建議，與其讓聊天機器人完成對某個廣泛主題的全部研究，不如將其作為研究過程的一部分，用來回答一些小問題，例如尋找歷史日期。但如果想要更深入了解某個主題，不妨考慮閱讀書籍。

 So, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania gave a group of 250 people a simple writing assignment. This experiment, like other academic studies published so far on A.I.’s effects on the brain, found that people who relied heavily on chatbots and A.I. search tools for tasks like writing essays and research were generally performing worse than people who didn’t use them. The problem with those tools is that they transform what is once an active process in the brain into a passive one by automating all of that. Apparently, the key to using A.I. in a healthier way is to try to be more mindful in how we should use them.

人工智能和社交媒體如何導致「腦殘廢」（1/2）

Recently the New York Times reported the following:

How A.I. and Social Media Contribute to ‘Brain Rot’ (1/2)

A.I. search tools, chatbots and social media are associated with lower cognitive performance, studies say. What to do?

The NYT - By Brian X. Chen (Brian X. Chen is The Times’s lead consumer technology writer and the author of Tech Fix, a column about the social implications of the tech we use.)

Nov. 6, 2025

Last spring, Shiri Melumad, a professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, gave a group of 250 people a simple writing assignment: Share advice with a friend on how to lead a healthier lifestyle. To come up with tips, some were allowed to use a traditional Google search, while others could rely only on summaries of information generated automatically with Google’s artificial intelligence.

The people using A.I.-generated summaries wrote advice that was generic, obvious and largely unhelpful — eat healthy foods, stay hydrated and get lots of sleep! The people who found information with a traditional Google web search shared more nuanced advice about focusing on the various pillars of wellness, including physical, mental and emotional health.

The tech industry tells us that chatbots and new A.I. search tools will supercharge the way we learn and thrive, and that anyone who ignores the technology risks being left behind. But Dr. Melumad’s experiment, like other academic studies published so far on A.I.’s effects on the brain, found that people who rely heavily on chatbots and A.I. search tools for tasks like writing essays and research are generally performing worse than people who don’t use them.

“I’m pretty frightened, to be frank,” Dr. Melumad said. “I’m worried about younger folks not knowing how to conduct a traditional Google search.”

Welcome to the era of “brain rot,” the slang term to describe a deteriorated mental state from engaging with low-quality internet content. When Oxford University Press, the publisher of the Oxford English Dictionary, named brain rot the word of the year in 2024, the definition referred to how social media apps like TikTok and Instagram had people hooked on short videos, turning their brains into mush.

Whether technology makes people dumber is a question as old as technology itself. Socrates faulted the invention of writing for weakening human memory. As recently as 2008, many years before the arrival of A.I.-generated web summaries, The Atlantic published an essay titled, “Is Google Making Us Stupid?” Those concerns turned out to be overblown.

But the growing wariness in academia of the impact of A.I. on learning (on top of older concerns about the distracting nature of social media apps) is troubling news for a country whose performance in reading comprehension is already in steep decline.

This year, reading scores among children, including eighth graders and high school seniors, hit new lows. The results, gathered from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, long regarded as the nation’s most reliable, gold-standard exam, were the first of their kind to be published since the Covid-19 pandemic disrupted education and drove up screen time among youths.

Researchers worry that evidence is mounting of a potent link between lower cognitive performance and A.I and social media. In addition to recent studies that found a correlation between the use of A.I. tools and cognitive decline, a new study led by pediatricians found that social media use was associated with poorer performance among children taking reading, memory and language tests.

Here’s a summary on the research so far, and how to use A.I. in a way that boosts — rather than rots — the brain.

When we write with ChatGPT, are we even writing?

The most high-profile study this year about A.I.’s effects on the brain came out of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where researchers sought to understand how tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT could affect how people write. The study, which involved 54 college students, had a small sample size, but the results raised important questions about whether A.I. could stifle people’s abilities to learn.

For part of the study, students were asked to write an essay ranging from 500 to 1,000 words, and they were divided into different groups: One group could write with the help of ChatGPT, a second group could look up information only with a traditional Google search, and a third group could rely only on their brains to compose their assignment.

The students wore sensors that measured electrical activity in their brains. The ChatGPT users showed the lowest brain activity, which was unsurprising since they were letting the A.I. chatbot do the work.

But the most striking revelation arose after the students finished the writing exercise. One minute after completing their essays, the students were asked to quote any part of their essay. The vast majority of ChatGPT users (83 percent) could not recall a single sentence.

In contrast, the students using Google’s search engine could quote some parts, and the students who relied on no tech could recite lots of lines, with some even quoting almost the entirety of their essays verbatim.

“It has been one minute, and you really cannot say anything?” said Nataliya Kosmyna, the research scientist at M.I.T. Media Lab who led the study, about the ChatGPT users. “If you don’t remember what you wrote, you don’t feel ownership. Do you even care?”

(to be continued)

Translation

人工智能和社交媒體如何導致「腦殘廢」（1/2）

研究表明，人工智能搜尋工具、聊天機器人和社交媒體與認知能力下降有關。我們該怎麼辦？

去年春天，賓州大學華頓商學院的教授Shiri Melumad為250位參與者佈置了一項簡單的寫作任務：與朋友分享如何擁有更健康生活方式的建議。為了找到建議，一些參與者可以使用傳統的谷歌搜索，而另一些參與者只能依賴谷歌人工智能自動生成的摘要資訊。

使用人工智能產生的摘要資訊的人給出的建議千篇一律、顯而易見，而且大多毫無幫助 - 吃健康食品、多喝水、保證充足睡眠！那些透過傳統谷歌搜尋獲取資訊的人，會分享一些更細緻的建議，例如關注身心健康的各個方面。

科技業告訴我們，聊天機器人和新型人工智能搜尋工具將極大地提升我們的學習和發展方式，任何忽視這些技術的人都有可能被時代拋棄。但Melumad博士的實驗，以及目前已發表的其他關於人工智能對大腦影響的學術研究，發現那些過度依賴聊天機器人和人工智能搜尋工具來完成諸如撰寫論文, 和進行研究等任務的人的表現，通常比不使用它們的人更差。

Melumad 博士說: “坦白說，我非常擔心”; “我擔心年輕人不知道如何進行傳統的谷歌搜索。”

歡迎來到「腦殘廢」時代，這個俚語用來形容因接觸低品質網路內容而導致的精神狀態惡化。 2024年，牛津大學出版社（《牛津英語詞典》的出版商）將 “腦殘廢” （brain rot）評為年度詞彙，其定義指的是TikTok和Instagram等社交媒體應用讓人們沉迷於短視頻，最終導致腦袋變得糊塗 。

科技是否會使人變笨，這個問題與科技本身一樣古老。蘇格拉底曾批評文字的發明削弱了人類的記憶力。早在2008年，也就是人工智能產生的網路摘要出現之前，《大西洋月刊》就發表了一篇題為《谷歌是否讓我們變笨？ 》的文章。事實證明，這些擔憂有些誇大其詞。

然而，學術界日益增加擔憂人工智能影響學習（在擔憂它對社群媒體應用會分散注意力的舊問題之上）, 對於一個閱讀理解能力已經急劇下降的國家來說，無疑是一個令人不安的消息。

今年，包括八年級學生和高中畢業生在內的兒童閱讀成績都創下新低。這些結果來自「全國教育進步評估」（NAEP），該評估長期以來被視為美國最可靠、最具權威性的考試。這是自新冠疫情擾亂教育、導致青少年螢幕使用時間激增以來，首批發佈的此類評估結果。

研究人員擔心，越來越多的證據表明，認知能力下降與人工智能和社群媒體之間存在密切聯繫。除了近期一些研究發現人工智能工具的使用與認知能力下降之間存在關聯外，一項由兒科醫生領導的新研究發現，社交媒體的使用與兒童在閱讀、記憶和語言測試中表現較差有關。

以下是迄今為止相關研究的總結，以及如何以加強而非退化腦袋的方式去使用人工智能。

當我們使用 ChatGPT 寫作時，我們真的在寫作嗎？

今年關於人工智能對大腦影響的最引人注目的研究來自麻省理工學院，該學院的研究人員試圖了解像 OpenAI 的 ChatGPT 這樣的工具會如何影響人們的寫作方式。這項研究涉及54名大學生，樣本量雖小，但結果卻引發了關於人工智能是否會扼殺人類學習能力的重要問題。

研究的一部分內容是要求學生撰寫一篇500至1000字的文章，並將他們分成三組：一組可以使用ChatGPT輔助寫作，第二組只能透過傳統的谷歌搜尋查找訊息，第三組則完全依靠自己的大腦完成寫作。

學生們佩戴了用於測量大腦電波活動的感測器。使用ChatGPT的學生們表現出最低的腦電波活動，這並不令人意外，因為他們讓AI聊天機器人完成寫作。

但最令人震驚的發現出現在學生完成寫作練習之後。在完成文章一分鐘後，研究人員要求學生引用出其文章中的任何部分。絕大多數使用ChatGPT的學生們（83%）竟然一個句子都想不出來。

相比之下，使用Google搜尋引擎的學生可以引用部分內容，那些完全不使用科技的學生卻能背出很多句子，有的甚至幾乎能逐字逐句地複述自己的文章。

領導這項研究的麻省理工學院媒體實驗室研究員Nataliya Kosmyna在談到使用ChatGPT的學生時說道:「才過了一分鐘，真的什麼都說不出來嗎？」; 「如果你記不清自己寫了什麼，你就不會感到擁有它。你還會在乎嗎？」

（待續）